Obama on spill response: We are in charge

In response to growing criticism over his response to the oil spill crisis, President Barack Obama launched a PR offensive Thursday with a full-blown news conference designed to convey that the buck stops with him. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.

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This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:As we mentioned, in response to this growing anger, the president today called his first full-blown
East Room
at the
White House
press conference in 10 months before he travels to
Louisiana
again tomorrow. Today he took responsibility for fixing this spill. He said it's on his mind and his agenda, as you heard him say, all day, every day. Our chief White House correspondent
Chuck Todd
was there. He has our report from the
White House
tonight.
Chuck
, good evening.

CHUCK TODD reporting:Good evening,
Brian
. Well, look, as more oil has washed ashore on the
gulf coast
, those voices of frustration have gotten louder, and the target's been the president. So today was part one of what is a
PR
offensive, a

presidential news conference designed to convey an old presidential axiom:The buck stops with him.
Thirty-eight
days after
America
's worst
oil spill
, the president met the press to answer a basic question, `Who's in charge,
BP
or the
government
?'

President BARACK OBAMA:The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the
federal government
has been in charge of the response effort.

TODD:It was a theme he would touch on repeatedly during his hour-long news conference.

Pres. OBAMA:BP
is operating at our direction. I intend to use the full force of the
federal government
.
The United Statesgovernment
has always been in charge. Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts.

TODD:Calling himself angry and frustrated, the president did acknowledge shortcomings.

Pres. OBAMA:What is true is that when it comes to stopping the leak down below, the
federal government
does not possess superior technology to
BP
. Are we doing everything perfectly out there? Then the answer is absolutely not. We can always do better.

TODD:One specific example the president cited was the delay in getting accurate information about the amount of oil spewing out.

Pres. OBAMA:There was a lag of several weeks that I think -- that I think shouldn't have happened.

TODD:The president extended a moratorium on exploratory deep water
oil drilling
for another six months and canceled
oil drilling
leases off the coasts of
Virginia
,
Alaska
and the western gulf. As for comparisons some are making to
President Bush
's response to
Katrina
...

Pres. OBAMA:I'm confident that people are going to look back and say that this administration was on top of what was an unprecedented crisis.

TODD:And as if realizing he had not yet driven home the message that he came to the
East Room
to make, the president at the very end made it personal.

Pres. OBAMA:And it's not just me, by the way. And when I
woke up this morning
, and I'm shaving and
Malia
knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, `Did you plug the hole yet,
Daddy
?'

TODD:All right,
Brian
, we did see the first
government
casualty of this crisis.
Liz Birnbaum
, the head of the
Minerals Management Services
, they're the
government agency
in charge of regulating offshore
oil drilling
, she was essentially fired. She technically resigned. Her boss, Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar
, I'm told, had lost confidence in her. By the way, the president at the news conference,
Brian
, did express confidence in Secretary
Salazar
.

WILLIAMS:All right.
Chuck Todd
working this story at the
White House
.
Chuck
, thanks.